Cineraria saxifraga is one of about 32 Cineraria species indigenous to South Africa. There are more of them in the rest of Africa and Madagascar. That island country has outstanding botanical diversity, much of which has relationships with southern African plants. The name cinerareus meaning ‘related to ashes’ in Latin, is derived from the gray, felted leaves of several of the species of Cineraria.

The hairless, light green leaves are, however, in the case of this species not ashen at all. It is the flower structure that makes the flower in picture a Cineraria,  The soft leaves are lobed to serrated and semi-circular. The round bush sometimes reaches a height of about 30 cm. The yellow daisy has a sparsely filled ring of female ray florets, in picture only five of them. The small clump of five-lobed disc florets protrudes noticeably above the rays. One row of green involucral bracts shapes the green tubular cup at the base of the flower. Flowering occurs from spring to autumn. The small black seeds fly in the wind during dispersal with the help of a small white hairy pappus (Manning, 2009).

The distribution area of the wild cineraria ranges from the southern Cape to the Eastern Cape.  It typically grows in rocky and shady places.  The plant looks much like Cineraria deltoides found all over East Africa at roadsides and forest edges (Blundell, 1987).

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Ivan Latti